United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Office of Water
(4204)
EPA832-F-00-003
May 2000
www.epa.gov/owm/genwave.htm
&EPA WAVE Partners: Office Buildings
Water Alliances for Voluntary Efficiency (WAVE) is part of the U.S. Environmental .
Protection Agency's (EPA's) long-term effort to prevent pollution and reduce demands
on the nation's water and energy resources. WAVE is a voluntary partnership that encourages
commercial businesses and institutions to examine water usage and implement water effi-
ciency programs. Since its inception in 1992, the WAVE program has helped the lodging
industry increase water efficiency. WAVE is now seeking to promote these same principles in
office buildings.
How Gstn IVIy Office Building Become More Water
Efficient?
Many office buildings are taking a serious look at their water use and are finding significant
opportunities to cut costs and improve services through water efficiency. There are many
opportunities to reduce water use in office buildings — bathroom fixtures such as toilets,
faucets, and showers; landscape irrigation; heating and cooling; and food service areas and
cafeterias. By installing water-efficient equipment and integrating water efficiency practices
into everyday operation, a 30 percent reduction in water consumption is possible. These
cost-effective practices conserve energy and valuable natural resources and can significantly
reduce your building's utility bills and chemical and maintenance costs.
In most cases, increasing water efficiency is simple to do and quick to pay off. Choose the water
efficiency practices that are economically viable and offer the greatest rewards for your facilities.
Wafer Alliances For
Voluntary Efficiency
How Can I Determine Which Efficiency Measures Are
Best for IVIe?
WAVE'Saver for Office Buildings, a windows-based software package available from EPA,
enables building engineers and managers to survey and track water use and identify specific
water-saving opportunities. The program includes full-motion video demonstrations, color
photos and graphics, and online tutorials. WAVE'Saver allows you to track water use
throughout your building, including laundry operations, irrigation, and cooling towers. You
can then identify and evaluate
a variety, of water efficiency
measures to save water in
those functions. WAVE*Saver
has budgeting and forecasting
features, and also includes an
automated WAVE report fea-
ture to make completing and
submitting efficiency mea-
sures reports as simple as
printing. Operating instruc-
tions are included in the
"help" feature on the CD-
ROM, making a paper copy
unnecessary.
Example WAVE«Saver Fixed Data Input Screen
Qlltea liasjJi'aoiws
r Choose an office teshoom ~"
* Occupancy Into j
Numfaet of Sjr/^=v Restrooms ^15
-^Toilet/Urinal Information" '~
~\ fyen's
1 Gallon per toilet Hush 3
, ft ToiteJstpthtsiestfooni 3
| Housekeeper flushes per day f 2
a (TlankoiMalvelypetortet (*~T O\
^ fieslfoora has urmals Men's
IfUnMbmtlfirestooro
1 Housekeeper wa hespefday^i
| Sees per housekeeper wa K
J1? Restmom has Shower
f Showei Information " "
!^nowerfioVpPM3. ^
; ^.liSnowe/^ in tin (estroom.
Ayg hot water temperature
A ™ ^KW h ^ J
3 Jdmu'es pet shower
1 rjousekeeper v^^hes per day
i ^iinspefhousekeeperwaiH
mien's
4
3
105 |
15 j;
1 !
30
Hen
4.5 |
1 j;
110
5 :
1 i
1
iWorrten"!
J4
|3 |
|105 |
j|L_
;30
Women
!45
h
J7
:|f—
j
i
!,V
^^^r^-~- , ~ — ^-^ — ~ r , n ,, n ,^-.ji.g.;g^ — u^^a
-------
IJpJBliMS Efficiency Report
r«SS*OfFKE Rettcft Retrofit
ftta Cost J1 SeWSal Sower Cost
Summaiy of All Efficiency Measures
ftlWvr*fJWi
nrjbKle OCytv:
/.-nxISMiigt MS.040
JMMKgjICMt KOJ39
Faucets * Install aeratots
EBSSl
A.-neJEir-*3: tie,7U
M**-4>»«e»t;S5SJ
Or 109
f VJC£t ' (i^^ l*«&iKw* 4ih fecc resto ffiyns (MF1
Pr,tK(. hraaate
AttU9lSav*XP 5M,«12
U£te!iiCoit>43S
Of »
1
J2.00JK09I
Water S18.215 (4976 KOal)
Energy: S52.120 (10424 therms)
ChoricatJO
OSM Cost SI ,295
Annue) Savings
f/t»cr. J2.134 (SSSKOol)
Energy: $14.589 £91 8 therms)
CheiTKotSO
OSM Cost $0
ArmuslSavinos
fiHer, $1.839 (SKKOal)
Energy; S12.573 (2515lherms)
Chemfcot JO
OSMCostSO
Example WAVE«Saver Efficiency Report Screen
"Wafer efficiency can help office building
managers meet their goals to cut costs
while still keeping their customers happy.
Office building managers should take
advantage of all of the water conservation
opportunities in their buildings."
Tony Gregg
City of Austin Water Conservation Program
Water Efficiency Success Story: The City of San
Diego's Ridgehaven Office Building
In 1994, the City of San Diego purchased the vacant 73,000
square foot Ridgehaven office building for use by its
Environmental Services Department (SDESD). Through a
myriad of water and energy efficiency retrofits, SDESD
transformed this aging structure into a model of water and ..
energy efficiency.
Currently, Ridgehaven saves 678,800 gallons of water annu-
ally — a 58 percent reduction compared to the building's
previous water consumption. Through reduced water
usage, Ridgehaven also realizes approximately $3,720 in
avoided water costs annually. Associated reductions in
energy demands and chemical use further contribute to
Ridgehaven's savings. Ridgehaven's water efficiency
accomplishments include the following:
A Saved 303,500 gallons of water annually by installing
low-flow toilets — a 68 percent reduction.
4 Saved 77,400 gallons of water annually by installing
waterless and low-flow urinals — a 60 percent reduc-
tion.
4 Saved 45,000 gallons of water annually by installing
low-flow shower heads — a 29 percent reduction.
4 Saved 216,000 gallons of water annually by replacing
the original inefficient cooling towers with two new
closed-loop cooling towers with adjustable conductivi-
ty settings allowing increased water reuse — a 45 per-
cent reduction.
With future plans to install an air separator for its cooling
towers, Ridgehaven is not standing still in its water effi-
ciency efforts. The air separator will improve water flow
within the system and further reduce water consumption
as well as the need for corresponding chemical treatments.
Ridgehaven also plans to convert all the building's land-
scaping to Xeriscape landscaping (e.g., using indigenous
plants, minimizing turf areas, instituting efficient irrigation
practices, using mulches to minimize evaporation) to fur-
ther reduce water use.
Information provided by Tom Arnold
City of San Diego Environmental Services Department.
How Can I Join?
For more information on how WAVE can help you identify water efficiency measures to meet your needs, call 202 260-
7288. You also can write to the WAVE Program at U.S. EPA (4204), Ariel Rios Building, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW,
Washington, DC 20460; or visit our Web site at . Join WAVE today and make the com-
mitment to take a leading role in conserving our vital water resources while saving money.
Printed on paper that contains at least 30 percent postconsumer fiber.
------- |